PHILADELPHIA --- The last photograph was snapped, the last pre-training camp interview was completed, the first practice day schedule was set. At that moment Monday, Ed Stefanski was asked the only 76ers Media Day question that mattered: Had he done enough?

It's the standard NBA general manager's riddle: What was the proper offseason activity level? Was a franchise upheaval necessary, or just some roster detailing? Was the last season worth building on, or stomping over? Was there money to spend, and was it spent properly?

Is the team better now than it was last spring?

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As offseasons go, the Sixers have had more interesting ones. Every one including Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson come to mind, not to mention the one where they didn't have Moses Malone but he kept coming around anyway, ridiculing Harold Katz.

This time, there was a coaching change, and a significant one. Not only will Eddie Jordan replace Tony DiLeo, but he will cram in a new, complicated offense. After that, there wasn't much between a playoff loss to the Orlando Magic and the photo op of a Betsy Ross knock-off stitching the new-look uniforms.

Sixers fever, anyone?

"Changing the coach is a big thing," Stefanski said. "Getting Elton Brand back is a change; you really didn't have Elton long enough last year to know how much he will help the team. We didn't have the cap space to make big changes and to do free agency stuff. But we brought in Jason Kapono, and that addressed probably our biggest weakness --- shooting from the outside. That should help."

Why not?

Sometimes in sports, less can be more, and for the Sixers, this is one of those times. They played under two coaches last season and lost their most important player, Brand, to a shoulder injury after 29 games. Yet they made the playoffs and had a series lead before falling to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic. So there was no need for Stefanski to demand that all employees surrender their sledge cards.

The Sixers were young and motivated last season, and now they are about to regain a healthy Brand. And though point guard Andre Miller made such absurd contract demands that not even his strongest supporters could yell when the Sixers let him walk, the offense was about to change anyway, with Jordan preferring the point-forward look from the Princeton set.

And suddenly ...

"We're different," Stefanski said. "And we also brought back Rodney Carney, and I am a big proponent of his. With the way we want to play --- real hard defense, then push the ball --- he is a world-class athlete. Forget the NBA; he is a world-class athlete. So can he help us? He is shooting the ball better from three. So I'll be real curious how Rodney fits into this."

If Stefanski is curious, he doesn't have much company. That's just how it is now on Pattison Ave. The Phillies are the world champions about to take another champagne bath. The Eagles are four-deep in interesting quarterbacks. The Flyers, who never have a timid offseason, scrambled their goaltending and acquired Chris Pronger. And the Sixers? Well, they did break out a retro-logo, which made a half-a-day's worth of news.

Even when DiLeo kicked himself back upstairs, Stefanski didn't overspend for Jay Wright or drag franchise hero Doug Collins out from under his broadcast headphones. Instead, he lifted Jordan from the NBA recyclables bin, along with a promise of an offense that, at best, will appeal to the thinking fan, not the entertainment-seeker.

But this eventually will appeal to the entertainment-seeker, too: Success. And Stefanski's minimalist approach to an offseason just might yield a successful basketball team.

To the Sixers' credit, they never overplayed the injured-Brand card last season. But when right --- and every once in a while, he is --- Brand is an A-list basketball celebrity. Andre Iguodala is about to enter his prime and could be an All-Star, particularly if he thrives in Jordan's pass-and-catch attack. Kapono will drop some threes. Samuel Dalembert won't be any worse ... probably. And Jordan is noted for the respect he gains from his players.

Once more, with feeling: Sixers fever, anybody?

"I am excited to get back with these guys," Brand said. "You play to win and you play to have that ultimate prize, the championship; that's what it is all about."

So it starts today, in training camp, with a healthy Brand, a peaking Iguodala, a motivated coach and an interesting offense.